Arizona Cardinals: Will Kyler Murray win third-straight vs. Giants?
By Sean Basile
Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals will duel another rookie quarterback against the new-look Giants. Will Murray notch his third straight win?
The Arizona Cardinals travel to MetLife Stadium in Week 7 to take on the revamped New York Giants in a matchup of rookie quarterbacks and bad defenses that’s set to be an offensive showcase. So how does the game go? Does Kyler Murray win his third straight or does Big Blue get back in the win column with its full cache of weapons returning from injury?
For the Giants, they should be getting back the trio of Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard and Saquon Barkley, all of whom the G-Men didn’t have for their last game against the New England Patriots. That means the playbook opens up wider and the Cardinals defense has a lot more to worry about.
For a defense that hasn’t done much stopping of anyone, Arizona faces an uphill battle in this game. That could very well be their undoing, despite the possibility that Murray and the offense put up 30+ points again.
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Last week, Murray came out swinging and posted 20 points in the first half to lead the Atlanta Falcons, 20-10, going into the break, only to watch his defense surrender 23 points in the second half. If not for a missed extra point, that second-half outburst would’ve tied the game and forced overtime.
It was a similar situation two weeks ago in Cincinnati when Murray led 13-6 going into the break, only to have his defense let the Cincinnati Bengals back into the game with 17 second-half points to tie the game. Fortunately, Zane Gonzalez won it with a field goal for the Cards.
Murray and the Cardinal offense are, for the most part, carrying their end of the bargain. The defense, on the other hand, is bottom five in nearly every defensive category. So there shouldn’t be much stopping of the Giants offense in this game — at least going by what we’ve seen all year.
This game is going to be about Daniel Jones vs. Kyler Murray going up against the other’s underwhelming defenses. Yes, the Cardinals get Patrick Peterson back this week and that should take away one big weapon for the Giants offense on every single play. But the Giants aren’t a one-weapon team and Peterson may not be able to carry the Arizona defense.
Both teams are going to move the ball effectively and score points. The question is going to be who gets the ball at the perfect time to seal the win for his team: Jones or Murray?
Next. 2019 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 7. dark
I’m typically someone to never trust the Giants to do much of anything (at least until they can prove they can win on a consistent basis). Thus, expect Murray and Cardinals to win this game at MetLife, 36-34, with a late offensive drive. Arizona will move to 3-3-1 and the future continues to shine for the Red Birds under the guidance of the 2019 first overall pick.